Steven Naismith praised the attacking intent and the character of his Hearts side after they came from behind for the second weekend running to beat Aberdeen 2-1 and keep alive their hopes of finishing third in the cinch Premiership.
The Jambos trailed the Dons following a Mattie Pollock header, but Josh Ginnelly hit back with a stunning equaliser before Lawrence Shankland secured victory with his 27th goal of the season.
Naismith, whose side cut the gap on Aberdeen to just two points with two games to play, was delighted to see Hearts show their resolve again after they fought back with 10 men to dig out a 2-2 draw at St Mirren the previous weekend.
“We pulled through and won after losing the first goal but overall I thought we played a really good game of football for 70 minutes,” said Naismith after an exhilarating showdown at Tynecastle.
“Again there is progression in terms of the way I want to play. I said from day one I want to have an attacking team who create more problems for the other team than they do for us and I think you will see that from the stats: how many shots we had on goal and how many really good chances we had.
“Then you have the pleasing aspect we come from behind. That is the last two games we have been in compromising situations. To get the red card in the last one and get a draw and here to win and play the way we want to play is very pleasing for me.
“If it was 3-1 after 70 minutes, people would not have been surprised.”
Naismith hailed the improvement in Ginnelly after the English forward took his tally for the season to 13 with a stunning 25-yard strike.
“He has been a big player for us,” said Naismith. “I played with him as a team-mate and he had loads of inconsistency and maybe lacked the drive to be really successful.
“But this season he has showed consistency, he has popped up for us and in the short time since I have taken over he has actually been a really good leader.”
Naismith apologised to his Aberdeen counterpart Barry Robson for not shaking his hand at full-time as he went straight on the pitch to celebrate victory.
“That’s my bad,” he said. “I’m naive in this situation in that the passion, the will to win overrides the thought process.
“I have just apologised to him there. I know Barry will not be happy with me and he’ll have been raging after it, but that’s 100 per cent my fault.
“I’ve spoken to him and apologised because he’s someone I consider a friend.”
Robson was pleased with the “fight” in his team but disappointed with the result.
“It was a proper game, a good scrap,” he said. “We knew coming down here we wouldn’t get it our own way, Hearts are trying to chase us down.
“We got a goal up and Mattie Pollock has a great opportunity to get another goal.
“We fought for the cause, there were chances – they had a few as well – and they go ahead, and we come back into the game, us trying to score. That was how the game panned out.”
Kris Doolan pushed Partick Thistle promotion dream from day one – Kyle Turner
Kyle Turner revealed Kris Doolan targeted cinch Premiership football immediately upon becoming Partick Thistle boss as the Jags stand on the brink of a return to the top flight.
Doolan stepped up from his role as under-18 coach in February to take over, initially on a temporary basis, from Ian McCall and the turnaround in form since has taken the Maryhill side all the way to the play-off final.
The Jags are 2-0 up from Thursday’s first leg against Ross County – the victory extending their unbeaten run to 11 games – with the return game taking place in Dingwall on Sunday.
Thistle are the first team to finish fourth in the second tier to go all the way to the play-off final – during that run Doolan had to cope with the death of his father Lawrence – and they are looking to make more history by completing the job against the Staggies.
Malky Mackay’s side played most of the game in Glasgow with 10 men after 16-year-old defender Dylan Smith was sent off in the first half for denying Aidan Fitzpatrick an obvious goalscoring opportunity and midfielder Turner is hoping Doolan’s ambition is soon fulfilled.
The 25-year-old said: “The gaffer has been brilliant. He has had a hard time in the last few weeks and it has been tough for him.
“But when he came those were his first words, ‘let’s try to get to the Premiership’.
“He constantly goes on about it in the changing room, that we want to be looking up the way and how we want to get there.
“It is the top league in Scotland and he instilled a belief in us that we can do this and so far so good.
“Since the gaffer has come in we have a siege mentality and we keep going to see what happens.
“In five play-off games we have scored 18 goals and conceded three, so the gaffer has installed a belief in us. He wants us to be free and go and play our own game and it has worked so far.
“We were disappointed this season and we should have been challenging in the final games but we slipped up a few times and we weren’t happy with that.
“We finished fourth and we had to play six games in the play-offs. We felt the worst we should have finished was second.
“When we got past Queen’s Park, then the belief started to grow. We know Sunday will be tough and County will throw everything at us so we have to be ready.”
Turner believes the margin of victory over the Staggies, who finished 11th in the Premiership, could have been greater.
The former Stranraer and Dunfermline player said: “I thought we put on a good performance. We were actually disappointed we didn’t score more goals to be honest.
“We had a lot of chances in the second half but County defended well and they threw bodies in front of the ball to make it hard for us.
“If someone had said to us we would win 2-0 then we would have been happy.
“But the way the game went with them down to 10 men, with the chances we created, on another day we would have scored more. But overall though we are delighted with the win.”
Jordan White insists Ross County believe they can still stay in Premiership
Jordan White admits belief is key to Ross County’s quest to claw back a two-goal deficit against Partick Thistle on Sunday as they battle for cinch Premiership survival.
The Staggies lost 2-0 in the first leg of the play-off final at Firhill on Thursday night where they played for the majority of the game with 10 men after 16-year-old defender Dylan Smith was sent off in the 17th minute for denying Aidan Fitzpatrick, who had netted the opener for the Championship side, an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Veteran Jags striker Brian Graham struck just before half-time with his 21st goal of the season to put Kris Doolan’s side in the box seat for the second leg in Dingwall.
However, Staggies striker White insists the tie is not over yet.
The 31-year-old said: “I don’t think I would have taken 2-0 at any time but under the circumstances I think we did well to come out the way we have.
“The first half isn’t how we wanted it to go but we have another game to put it right.
“The belief in the group is always there and there’s no point turning up thinking you can’t do it as you are on to a loser then. It is only half-time in the tie, that’s all it is.
“Other than the Kilmarnock game (3-1 defeat) I think we have performed pretty well since the split.
“It all comes down to Sunday now and we have to look after ourselves and put in a performance. No one in the dressing room wants a relegation on their CV.
“Partick have had a good night on Thursday but we have to take our medicine and move on.”
White believes home advantage could be “massive” as County look to turn the tie around against a Jags side who are unbeaten in 11 games.
He said: “Partick played well but coming up against 10 men for 75 minutes probably made it a bit easier for them.
“We can’t use it as an excuse but we know what we can do and we are confident going into the game.
“It was disappointing on Thursday but we need the fans behind us and they can be a big help, especially if we get an early goal.”
Hearts and Hibernian given SFA notice of complaint after incident at Tynecastle
Hearts and Hibernian have been served with a notice of complaint by the Scottish Football Association after disorder among their players and staff at the end of last weekend’s fiery Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle.
At full-time, following a clash that ended 1-1, two skirmishes erupted on the pitch, one directly in front of the two technical areas and another just moments afterwards in the centre circle.
Hearts goalkeeping coach Paul Gallacher and substitute shot-stopper Ross Stewart as well as Hibs manager Lee Johnson and unused substitute Rocky Bushiri were all shown red cards for their part in the post-match chaos.
And on Friday it emerged that the two clubs have been charged, alleged to have breached disciplinary rule 204, which states that: “All clubs and recognised football bodies shall procure that its officials, team staff, employees and players conduct themselves in an orderly fashion at all times during and/or after a match.
“In particular, clubs and recognised football bodies are responsible for ensuring that its officials, team staff, employees and players refrain from any one or a combination of the following: (a) becoming involved in a confrontation; b) conduct that is likely to lead to or to exacerbate or prolong a hostile or argumentative situation with players and/or team staff from the opposing team and/or match officials; (c) conduct that may otherwise incite disorder.”
The hearing for both clubs is due to take place on June 29.
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